KQED's Forum

While visiting California this week, President Trump decried the homelessness crisis, saying it’s destroying the state’s cities. As yet, the President has offered few solutions, suggesting that deregulation would increase housing supply. On Wednesday, the Trump administration declined the state's request for 500,000 more federal housing vouchers. We'll talk with Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, the head of Governor Newsom's new Commission on Homelessness & Supportive Housing about the role of federal, state and local governments in addressing the crisis.

The political deadlock continues in Israel today after the country’s second election this year. Official results are still unavailable, but it looks like neither Benjamin Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party nor the centrist Blue and White party, led by former military chief of staff Benny Ganz, have won enough seats in parliament for a majority. As lawmakers begin negotiations to form a governing coalition, we'll talk about the results and the likelihood of a third election. We’ll also discuss a potential new coalition’s implications for Middle East peace and security.

The California Air Resources Board is considering a controversial proposal Thursday aimed at protecting the world's tropical rainforests and combating global climate change. The proposal could allow companies to offset their emissions by sending money to fight deforestation in countries such as such as Brazil and promote sustainable industries. Backers say including tropical rainforests in the state's cap and trade program provides needed money to save the essential forests. But opponents say it's nothing more than greenwashing, allowing companies to pollute while investing in programs that are ineffective and can end up damaging forests and indigenous communities.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions, to be sure," writes former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power in her new memoir, "The Education of an Idealist." "But turning a blind eye to the toughest problems in the world is a guaranteed shortcut to the same destination." Power first rose to prominence with her 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide." She pushed for a human rights-driven foreign policy in the Obama administration, and she joins Forum to discuss the effects of these policies as well as her own journey in politics.

California's role as an environmental leader in improving air quality, which includes a plan to put more than a million zero-emission and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the roads by 2025, is about to be upended by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Trump administration is expected to announce this week that it will revoke the state's right to set stricter air pollution standards for cars and light trucks. We'll discuss the move and how California will respond.

Writer Salman Rushdie's new novel, "Quichotte," is set in an unstable, perilous America where anything can happen. "Old friends could become new enemies and traditional enemies could be your new besties or even lovers. It was no longer possible to predict the weather, or the likelihood of war, or the outcomes of elections." A layered book within a book, it's Rushdie's character, spy novel writer Sam DuChamp, who is penning the story of Quichotte, a Don Quixote of the digital age, embarking on a quest to find his true love. Forum talks to Rushdie about the novel, which has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and what it says about America today.

On Friday, youth in the Bay Area and around the world are planning to leave school and strike to demand more action on climate change. One of the local leaders of the strike is Isha Tobis Clarke of the group Youth vs. Apocalypse. A senior at Oakland's MetWest High School, Clarke was part of a group of young people who made news last spring when they confronted Senator Dianne Feinstein and attempted to convince her to endorse the Green New Deal resolution. She joins us in studio to talk about her climate activism and Friday’s action.

The state legislature wrapped up its session on Friday, sending Governor Gavin Newsom a big stack of bills on issues ranging from affordable housing to wildfires to police use of force. KQED's Katie Orr joins us to talk about some of the most significant legislation that passed this year, and which ones the governor is likely to sign or veto.

From Johnny Cash's performance at San Quentin in front of a young Merle Haggard, to the heartbreak behind Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," Ken Burns' latest documentary "Country Music" explores the stories big and small that compose the titular genre. The series features interviews, archival video, and hundreds of music cues, which include the work of Jimmie Rodgers, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn and more. "Country Music" premieres Sunday on PBS and will air over eight nights. Burns joins Forum to talk about his work.

Forum reviews, analyzes and answers your questions about the latest news from Washington, D.C.